Fluorescent light socket



Dec. 12, 1950 w. L. KELIViAN FLUORESCENT LIGHT SOCKET Filed- July 5,- 1947 Patented Dec. 12, 1950 U NITED STAT ES PATENT OFFICE-1 FLUORESCENT LIGHT SOCKET William L. K'elman, Providence, R. I. Application July 3, 1941;.Serial'No. 558,813"

The present invention relates to fluorescent light fixtures, and has particular reference to a novel socket construction therefor.

Theprincipal object of the invention is to provide an improved socket construction which includes a bulb pin receiving member provided with a slot into which the bulb pins enter, the memher then being moved to engage the pins with electrical contact members.

Another object of the invention is to utilize the.

movement of. the .bulb pin receiving member to lock the pins within the socket when the. pins have engaged the electrical contact members.

Still another'object'of the invention is to provide a fluorescent bulb socket which has a rotatable bulb pin receiving member releasably locked in pin receiving position and rotatable in either clockwise or counter-clockwise direction to snap engage the received bulb pins with electrical contact members.

With the above and other advantageous features in view,..the invention consists of a novel arrangement of. parts more fully disclosedinthe detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and more specifically defined in the claim appended thereto.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective rearview of a fluorescent bulb socket embodying the novel invention, and an associated fragmentary fluorescent bulb end;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the socket in bulb pin receiving position, the bulb pins being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of Fig. 2, the cover plate being removed;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, with the movable socket member and its received bulb pins turned to closed circuit position;

Fig. 5 is a perspective rear view of the socket body;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 2;

Fig. '7 is a front view of the pin receiving disk;

Fig. 8 is a rear view of Fig. '7;

Fig. 9 is a vertical section on the line 9-9 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the guide plate for limiting the receiving movement of the bulb pins;

Fig. 11 is a front view of a modified construction of pin receiving disk;

Fig. 12 is a rear view of Fig. 11; and

Fig. 13 is a side view of Fig. 11.

It has been found desirable to provide a socket for a fluorescent light fixture which has a movable disk with a slot for freely receiving the pins 1..Claim. (o1. 17s s2s) 2. of a fluorescent light bulb, the disk -being;movable to bring the received pins into. circuit closing contact with. spring contact blades mounted in-the socket body. To this end, I provide a-socket body which has spring contact blades mounted therein. and which has a pin receiving disk rctatably mounted therein, the disk having a slot into which both bulb-pins of a fluorescenttbulb end may pass; after entry of the pins the disk may be turned in either clockwise or counterclockwise'direction to bring the pins into. contactingengagement. with the contact blades. the parts being preferably arranged .to. releasably lock the movabledisk in .both pin receiving and ,zCiIC-llit closing positions.

Referring to the. drawings, which illustrate a preferred socket construction embodying the novel features of the invention,the socket misc! insulating material. and is provided with a base H for securing to asuitable fixture support. the base having the usual passages for retaining screws. The upper portion or body member 12 of the socket isrecessedatits upper end asshown in Fig. 5 to provide a chamber tiandrecessed' through the lower. portion: to house contact. blades 14, I 5 which have their lower ends formed as flanges I5, ll adapted to be locked. to the body member by means of standard wiring. screws which pass through the flanges and seat in the upper wall of the base. The intermediate sections of the contact blades are formed as spring arms I8, I9 and the upper ends are formed as spring fingers 20, 2| which extend into the chamher [3. The spring fingers each have an arcuate portion 22 to receive the associated bulb pin, and reversely curved portions at each end of the arcuate portion which provide transverse snap ribs 23, 24, the reversely curved portion at the upper end forming a guide tip 25 against which the bulb pin initially presses.

The upper rim 2!; of the chamber I 3 is provided with an opening 21 for the bulb pins, and a rotatable disk 28 is seated in the chamber l3 and has a through radial slot 29 and a rearwardly extending hub 30 which is slotted in alignment with the slot 29 as indicated by the reference numeral 3|, the hub being slightly reduced in thickness at radially opposite areas to form depressions 32, 33. A guide plate 34 is mounted in the body member, as by a key way slot 35 which seats over a corre spondingly shaped projection 36 in the body member, and extends in front of the disk 28 to position its upper arcuate edge 3! in the path of the bulb pin entering movement, as shown in Fig. 3, to thus provide a limit stop.

When the disk 28 is seated in the chamber I3 a cover plate 38 is secured to the rear of the body member, as by screws 39 which seat in a central rib 49 of the body member, the cover plate having an opening 41 which receives the hub 39 of the disk and supports it during its turning movement.

When a bulb end 42, see Fig. 1, is to be seated in the socket, the bulb pins 43are passed through the opening '21 and into the disk slot 29', the lower pin resting on the arcuate guide edge 31.

In this position, which is illustrated in Fig. 3,

the arcuate cont/act fingers 20, 2| are seated in the disk hub depressions 32, 33, and releasably hold the disk in pin receiving position. The fluorescent tube is now turnedin either direction, clockwise or counter-clockwise; the pins.

thus contact the upper and lower portions of the spring fingers and snap past the transverse ribs to seat within the arcuate portions 22, thus relasably locking the bulb pins'and the disk in place and closing the wiring circuit. Although the preferred disk construction utilizes a linear pin receiving slot, the slot may b'e ang'ular to function as a pin retaining slot for facilitating the mounting operation. The {disk 44 illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12 has an {angular slot 45 which terminates as indicated at, 46 to provide an end stop for the inner bulb pin, when received, thus obviating need for a "separate guide plate. The hub 41 may be prof vided with two arcuate sides 48, which are shaped to receive the fingers 20, 2| of the con- "*tact blades,-the other sides 49 being preferably plane, F It is thus clear that the novel socket includes a rotatable disk which is releasably held in place to permit entry of the bulb pins into the disk slot, fthewiring circuit being open; when the fluorescent bulb and the socket disks are turned, the pins releasably lock into engagement with the contact blade spring fingers, and the wiring cirfcuitis closed, it being understood that a manuallyoperated switch is normally provided in.

the wiring circuit so that the light may be turned 'onand off in the usual manner. Mounting and removing a fluorescent bulb is thus greatly iacilitated, as the bulb and the co-operating made to correspond to difierent fluorescent light bulbconstructions, withoutdeparting from the spirit or the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

. I claim:

A socket construction for a fluorescent light fixture, comprising a body portion, electrical contact elements having spring fingers and housed therein, and a bulb pin receiving member rotatably mounted in said body portion and having a slot for receiving bulb pins, said member being rotatable to bring the pins in said slot into contacting engagement with the contact element spring fingers said spring fingerseach having an arcuate bulb pin engagingportions and reversely curved portions at each end of the arcuate portion, said body portion including a rearwardly extending hub, and diametrically opposed depressions in said hub on each side of said hub slot having arcuate'central portions and end walls for releasably receiving the arcuate bulb pin portions and the reversely curved portions of the contact element spring fingers when the slot is in pin receiving position, whereby the bulb pin receiving member is'releasably held in pin receiving position. WILLIAM L. KELMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

